Establishment of Legal Child Support Obligations

Establishment of Legal Child Support Obligations

A support obligation is established based on the needs of the child and parents’ ability to provide support. Mandatory guidelines are used in the North Carolina Child Support Enforcement Program in order to compute a child support obligation based on the combined gross income of the custodial and non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent may either voluntarily agree to the support amount and sign a Voluntary Support Agreement, or the obligation can be established through court proceedings.